202Four to Know: Kickers

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>As proven in the Class A state championship, a reliable kicking game can win championships. The 2023 class is graduating some of the top kickers from the past year and this article will provide some insight into some of the potential difference-makers for next season. Who will have a leg up on the competition?</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["408806"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"u003ca href=u0022https://twitter.com/CamBothwellu0022u003ehttps://twitter.com/CamBothwellu003c/au003ernrnBothwell finished 2nd in state behind [player_tooltip player_id='240011' first='Tristan' last='Alvano'] in Kick Scoring for 2023. Averaging over 52 yards a kickoff, Bothwell was consistently putting the ball around the 10-yard line with a high arc on the ball. Bothwell made 80% of his field goals while only missing 2 of his 70 points after attempts on the year. Accuracy is a strength and would allow them to plan some trick short kickoffs as well. Gretna is losing some key players and may have trouble early on finding an offensive rhythm, which could put a lot of emphasis on Bothwell to be a consistent scorer for the Dragons. Bothwell will be ready for the challenge.rnrnu003ca href=u0022https://iframe%20src='https://www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/14877612/639f87104df620023488696f'%20width='640'%20height='360'%20frameborder='0'%20allowfullscreen/iframeu0022u003eu003ciframe src=u0022https://www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/14877612/639f87104df620023488696fu0022 width=u0022640u0022 height=u0022360u0022 frameborder=u00220u0022 allowfullscreen=u0022allowfullscreenu0022u003eu003c/iframeu003eu003c/au003e","_player_evaluations_0_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations_1_player":["340496"],"_player_evaluations_1_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_1_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_1_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_1_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_1_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_1_evaluation":"u003ca href=u0022https://twitter.com/Rileyhodges05u0022u003ehttps://twitter.com/Rileyhodges05u003c/au003ernrnHodges finished 4th in Kick Scoring thanks to a fantastic offense featuring [player_tooltip player_id='340487' first='Carson' last='Rauner'] and [player_tooltip player_id='227026' first='Cole' last='Ballard']. His first year on Varsity as a kicker, Hodges made 93% of his 59 point after touchdown attempts and did not miss a field goal on the year. A strong running game did not allow many field goal attempts for Hudges as the Storm didn't often stall drives in the red zone. Like Bothwell, Hodges could be called on more often in the early season as the Storm figure out their backfield as Rauner and company will still move the ball down the field consistently. Hodges should be able to showcase himself his senior year.rnrnu003ca href=u0022https://iframe%20src='https://www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/14899839/63d7f1e17bd2f4094c6072da'%20width='640'%20height='360'%20frameborder='0'%20allowfullscreen/iframeu0022u003eu003ciframe src=u0022https://www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/14899839/63d7f1e17bd2f4094c6072dau0022 width=u0022640u0022 height=u0022360u0022 frameborder=u00220u0022 allowfullscreen=u0022allowfullscreenu0022u003eu003c/iframeu003eu003c/au003e","_player_evaluations_1_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations_2_player":["250677"],"_player_evaluations_2_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_2_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_2_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_2_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_2_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_2_evaluation":"u003ca href=u0022https://twitter.com/ChristianCamp05u0022u003ehttps://twitter.com/ChristianCamp05u003c/au003ernrnPossibly one of the strongest legs in the state, Campbell averaged over 50 yards a kickoff with 17 touchbacks in the 2023 season. He displayed a lot of accuracy during the season making 5 of his 6 field goal attempts and 33 of his 35 point after touchdown attempts. The Titans also had a strong run game behind the graduated [player_tooltip player_id='225758' first='Devyn' last='Jones'] and will have some backfield evaluations during the offseason. Campbell could turn into a real weapon and keep them in games during the season.rnrnu003ca href=u0022https://iframe%20src='https://www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/14671519/636035bc041d671090f50db4'%20width='640'%20height='360'%20frameborder='0'%20allowfullscreen/iframeu0022u003eu003ciframe src=u0022https://www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/14671519/636035bc041d671090f50db4u0022 width=u0022640u0022 height=u0022360u0022 frameborder=u00220u0022 allowfullscreen=u0022allowfullscreenu0022u003eu003c/iframeu003eu003c/au003e","_player_evaluations_2_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations_3_not_in_database":["not_in_db"],"_player_evaluations_3_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations_3_player_details_selected_featured_image":"","_player_evaluations_3_player_details_selected_featured_image":"field_62cca28ffa4e7","player_evaluations_3_player_details_player_name":"","_player_evaluations_3_player_details_player_name":"field_62aba4c9ecf2f","player_evaluations_3_player_details_graduating_class":"","_player_evaluations_3_player_details_graduating_class":"field_62aba4ddecf30","player_evaluations_3_player_details_height":"5'10u0022","_player_evaluations_3_player_details_height":"field_62aba4e8ecf31","player_evaluations_3_player_details_position":"2441","_player_evaluations_3_player_details_position":"field_62aba4f0ecf32","player_evaluations_3_player_details_school":"McCook High School","_player_evaluations_3_player_details_school":"field_62aba4fdecf33","player_evaluations_3_player_details_club_team":"","_player_evaluations_3_player_details_club_team":"field_62d20e723441a","player_evaluations_3_player_details":"","_player_evaluations_3_player_details":"field_62aba4afecf2e","player_evaluations_3_evaluation":"Another of the strongest legs in state, Gross not only has the ability to make it from 50 yards, he also averaged almost 55 yards a kickoff during 2023. Gross has solid technique allowing him to use his body's momentum to drive balls. While he made over 90% of his point after touchdown attempts, he went 4 of 7 on his field goal attempts. McCook is another high powered offense and another solid offseason of development and accuracy training for Gross could pay huge dividends in 2024.rnrnu003ca href=u0022https://iframe%20src='https://www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/14861071/634f4db215f64e1770e3c887'%20width='640'%20height='360'%20frameborder='0'%20allowfullscreen/iframeu0022u003eu003ciframe src=u0022https://www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/14861071/634f4db215f64e1770e3c887u0022 width=u0022640u0022 height=u0022360u0022 frameborder=u00220u0022 allowfullscreen=u0022allowfullscreenu0022u003eu003c/iframeu003eu003c/au003e","_player_evaluations_3_evaluation":"field_62aba51aecf34","player_evaluations":4,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"edit","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-6476cdea4b7f0"} /-->